Paeonius of Mende

The only sculptor of the fifth century who is at once
known to us from literary tradition and represented by
an authenticated and original work is Paeonius of Mende
in Thrace. He was an artist of secondary rank, if we may
judge from the fact that his name occurs only in
Pausanias; but in the brilliant period of Greek history
even secondary artists were capable of work which less
fortunate ages could not rival. Pausanias mentions a
Victory by Paeonius at Olympia, a votive offering of the
Messenians for successes gained in war. Portions of the
pedestal of this statue with the dedicatory inscription
and the artist's signature were found on December 20,
1875, at the beginning of the German excavations, and
the mutilated statue itself on the following day. A
restoration of the figure by a German sculptor may be
trusted for nearly everything but the face. The goddess
is represented in descending flight. Poised upon a
triangular pedestal about thirty feet high, she seems
all but independent of support. Her draperies, blown by
the wind, form a background for her figure. An eagle at
her feet suggests the element through which she moves.
Never was a more audacious design executed in marble.
Yet it does not impress us chiefly as a tour de force.
The beholder forgets the triumph over material
difficulties in the sense of buoyancy, speed, and grace
which the figure inspires. Pausanias records that the
Messenians of his day believed the statue to commemorate
an event which happened in 425, while he himself
preferred to connect it with an event of 453. The
inscription on the pedestal is indecisive on this point.
It runs in these terms: "The Messenians and Naupactians
dedicated [this statue] to the Olympian Zeus, as a tithe
[of the spoils] from their enemies. Paeonius of Mende
made it; and he was victorious [over his competitors] in
making the acroteria for the temple." The later of the
two dates mentioned by Pausanias has been generally
accepted, though not without recent protest. This would
give about the year 423 for the completion and erection
of this statue.